The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only organization comprised of the world's most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, YEC recently launched StartupCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

5 Reasons You Should Consider Starting Up In Vegas

If you’re looking for a place to start your business, consider Las Vegas. Seriously: Last month, I spent three days in downtown Las Vegas thanks to Zappos’ CEO Tony Hsieh and the team at CatalystCreativ, a Las Vegas community engagement and business development group. Hsieh has committed $350 million dollars to revitalizing the area. The money is focused in five key areas: real estate ($100 million), residential development ($100 million), small businesses ($50 million), education ($50 million), and tech startups ($50 million).

When I visited, I toured the beta Zappos’ office downtown, and learned about the intentional community they are all focused on building. According to the Downtown Project team, the goal is to “build the most community-focused large city in the world by inspiring and empowering people to follow their passions to create a vibrant, connected urban core.” I couldn’t believe the amount of energy surrounding this idea. Literally every person I talked to oozed excitement about what they were building. It was infectious — in a good way.

During the trip, Winston Ibrahim, Co-Founder & Chairman at Hydros Bottle, told me: “Las Vegas is the ideal spot for any young entrepreneur. The sheer energy and passion involved in the process of transforming the entire area cannot help but be invigorating.”

Not convinced yet? Here are five reasons why you should sincerely consider setting up shop in downtown Las Vegas:

A 24-Hour Culture/Mindset: Vegas is a round-the-clock city. Sometimes when you’re starting a business you literally work all of the time. In Vegas, there are actually lots of people working during every hour. You won’t feel quite as alone working on proposals at 3 a.m.

It’s Economical: Vegas may seem expensive. But, I’m not talking about setting up shop on the strip. I’m talking about downtown. There’s tons of inexpensive real estate available. It may need a facelift, but there’s a lot of potential to work with. Plus, there are lots of reasonably-priced places for employees to live. This means reasonably priced office space too.

It’s Wacky and Fun: This is not your grandmother’s city. As you may know, it is very wacky. In fact, it seems a little bit like the new Wild West for entrepreneurship. There are no rules except that you believe in what they’re trying to do and you make a conscious contribution to it. As a result, it feels surprisingly tight-knit and friendly.

Sunshine: Sunshine makes people happy. I’m not joking. One of the major contributors to personal happiness is actual sunshine, and Vegas boasts nearly 300 days of it each year. Lack of sunlight has been linked to depression, fatigue, and hopelessness.

An “Intentional” Community: Most importantly, starting your business in Vegas means being part of building a significant new community based on similar values. It means the opportunity to collaborate with others who are driven by the same idea of community. There’s something about being able to talk to others who are trying to do something similar that’s incredibly cathartic and healthy. It will make your problems seem more solvable — and will provide an invaluable resource as you grow your new business.

Want to learn more? Get on an airplane and go check out the project for yourself. As an entrepreneur, I was incredibly impressed with what they are building, and I encourage anyone looking to start their own business to check it out. I already can’t wait to go back and see the progress they have made.

Courtesy of YEC

Sarah Schupp is the CEO and founder of University Parent. UniversityParent is the #1 resource for millions of parents at over 250 institutions around the nation and is expanding rapidly. The company helps thousands of local and national advertisers effectively reach college parents in print and online.

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